Soujiro A portrait of sorrow
by willie-chan
Summary: The boy of the eternal smile has proved to be invincible, but when fate decides that he should fight the Wolf of Mibu, destiny can hold the most amazing surprises... specially for those who had never had the chance to have a family. Revised version


_As I promised, I would like to dedicate this fic to Little Charles (my programming teacher who's leaving towards Monterrey on Sunday). "Good luck and thanks a lot for your patience and for allowing me to write during your class (you're the best! you know that, don't you?)"  
_  
**DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me but to Nobouhiro Watsuki. I am merely borrowing it for entertainment purposes.  
**

**Soujiro****: A Portrait of Sorrow.  
**

The 15-year-old youngster smiled slightly at the tiny drops of blood in the right leg of his opponent. He could sense that he didn't have any good intentions but he had always been known for his unbreakable self- confidence.

- You know I won't give you the pleasure of watching me die… You're still an immature kid after all

- I sure know it, sir. And let me thank you for your kind observation - the boy of the eternal smile answered

The man in blue uniform lit another cigarette and lifted it to his mouth - You're good kid, now I see why the Battousai had so much trouble dealing with you, but you'll never be able to defeat the Wolf of Mibu

- As mister Shinomori told me that I would never defeat the Okashira of the Onniwabanshuu? - Soujiro smiled again – Don't you think so?

The sound of wood against wood announced the incoming attack. The blue-eyed boy's sandals against the tatami reddened now with the draining blood.

TENKEN NO RYU

Suddenly, the boy that had been tapping the floor moments ago disappeared, leaving the Wolf in a defending position. - Damned! -

Steal touched skin in a fluid movement turning it into a source of flowing blood coming for the Miburo's chest. A piece of blue cloth landed on the floor. It couldn't be! The Wolf of Mibu was loosing a battle and he hadn't been able to use his Gatotsu even once.

Fujita Goro's alter ego decided to make his move. One hand opened under the katana lying beneath the thumb and the index finger, the other hand: holding tightly the oriental sword's hold. The rough material against the gloves turning it into the first Gatotsu position. When the kid in the cyan gi appeared again in front of his eyes, the former Shinsen Gumi leader proceeded to attack.

GATOTSU

The edge of the katana roared silently when it cut the air. No skin. The boy reached to escape the attack thanks to a quick movement of his legs. The hit had been directed to his very head. The gatotsu, he knew, even if very precise, was also very predictable. He would have been death by now if it hadn't been for his great speed and his observation of his previous battles with Himura Kenshin. Soujiro had actually learned many things from the rurouni, and one of them would be his next move.

The boy of the eternal smile sheeted his black katana and placed it in front of him, parallel to the floor: A battou position.

A battou position? - his opponent was puzzled but he was known for not letting his worries taking place in an encounter - No one has ever gotten to master those techniques in the Meiji Japan except for… - his suspects became a fearful certainty - except for the Battousai!

- Exactly - the blue eyed young man grinned

A movement of great speed took place then and, for a moment, the chief of the Meiji Government Police could see his left leg taking place in front of the right one. He knew he had to stop it before the technique took place, either way he would be dead in a matter of seconds. It wasn't like when the red haired Rurouni had done it with a sakabatou: This time it was life or death.

AMAKAKERU RYU NO HIRAMEKI

Excruciating pain striking the golden eyed man. An extra weight landed on his hurt body. The kid hadn't been able to perform the second slash. He watched the youngster fall right in front of him as if in slow motion but he wouldn't move, instead he allowed himself to serve as shield between the boy and the tatami. The question was why? Why had he protected the child? Why hadn't he let him die when he had tried to kill him after all? He couldn't answer that and for the first time the former samurai was puzzled. How could it be that the cold, calculator and merciless Saitou Hajime, had protected an opponent. Perhaps the fact of seeing him so young and so hurt had awakened the forgiving part of his hara. He had a family too after all; he wouldn't want someone to act merciless against his wife or against… his child. He shook his head in disbelief at that last thought but what if.

- Baka… - the elder man sighed - Haven't you realized that you can't win against the Wolf of Mibu? - he continued while taking the white glove of his right hand off and placing it on his sweating forehead. He stood up carefully and took of the other glove to put it on the boy's deepest wound on his chest exactly over his hardly beating heart - you should rest now, tomorrow we'll start the real training… son - He and Tokyo had never been able to have children after all.

- We'd better ask nii-san - the blue eyed boy whispered between dreams. He could now finally rest peacefully - he may want to accompany us too… Ottou-san - Soujiro hadn't had a chance of having a real father, and maybe, just maybe, as the Shinta inside Himura Kenshin had had Seijuro Hiko, the Soujiro Seta inside the Tenken deserved to have Saitou Hajime.

_Author's notes:  
_  
_ Hey, this is one of my first attempts to write a RK fic so please don't be mad if it's not so good. I liked "Hiko smiled back at his pupil" better, but the dumbass computer class security guy erased it from the school's computer so there's no way I can get it back. But as the song says "I know I can deal with the pain…" (Yoshiki-san is such a genius.)._

Comments at and thanks for reading!

_**Revision **__**Notes:**_

_**I actually wrote this fic in 2003 so it is one of my earliest works**__** (which would explain the radical style-difference from what you have seen lately). Still, I really wanted to make an extensive revision of it because it had a significant amount of errors when I uploaded it: Some paragraphs were in the same line, and "…" were substituted by "."; mistakes that, at that time, I didn't know how to prevent.**_

_**It is hard to revise your own stuff and resist the urge to change it, but I have decided not to modify but certain typos and spelling (since English is not my mother language), specially since this is an evidence of how I used to write back then, so everything is almost exactly the same.**_

_**This is my way of saying thank you to another author: Aishuu, who sent me a review back in 2003, making me realize many of these mistakes and suggesting a beta-reader. Although at first I felt a little bad (it's not always easy to have your work criticized), I think it made me grow a lot. I don't expect him to read this but I still felt the need of thanking him. **_

_**Also to Jocasta de Tebas who, for some reason, made me go through my early stuff: ¡Muchas gracias!**_


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